On January 9, 1905, in the city of St. Petersburg, tsarist troops shot down a peaceful procession of workers. They went to the king to hand him a petition with their demands. This event happened on a Sunday, so it went down in history as Bloody Sunday. It served as an impetus for the beginning of the revolution of 1905-1907.

background

The mass procession of people happened for a reason. It was preceded by a series of events in which the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire played an important role. At the initiative of the police department in 1903, it was created Collection of Russian factory workers. The organization was legal, and its main task was to weaken the influence of various revolutionary currents on the working class.

At the head of the workers' organization, a special department of the Police Department placed a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church Georgy Apollonovich Gapon (1870-1906). This man was extremely proud. Very soon he imagined himself historical figure and leader of the working class. This was facilitated by the representatives of the authorities themselves, since they themselves withdrew from control, placing the workers' business under the complete control of Gapon.

The nimble priest immediately took advantage of this and began to pursue his own policy, which he considered the only true and correct one. As planned by the authorities, the organization they created was supposed to deal with issues of education, education, and mutual assistance. And the newly minted leader founded a secret committee. Its members began to get acquainted with illegal literature, studied the history of revolutionary movements and actively discussed plans for the struggle for the political and economic interests of the workers.

Georgy Apollonovich enlisted the support of the Karelins. They came from a social-democratic milieu and had great prestige among the workers. With their direct assistance, the Assembly of Russian Factory Workers significantly increased its numbers. In the spring of 1904, the organization already numbered several thousand people.

In March 1904, a secret program was adopted, the so-called "program of five". It contained clear economic and political demands. They formed the basis of the petition with which the workers went to the tsar on January 9, 1905.

Very soon, the Karelinas took a leading position in the Assembly. They had many of their people, and they organized a kind of opposition. She began to play a much more important role than the leader of the organization. That is, Gapon turned into a convenient cover, which his leaders from the Police Department did not even know about.

However, Georgy Apollonovich himself was energetic and purposeful person, therefore, it cannot be regarded as a puppet in the hands of the Karelins. He lacked experience revolutionary struggle, authority among the working masses, but he quickly learned and acquired the necessary skills.

At the end of November 1904, he put forward a proposal to apply to the authorities with a working petition. This proposal was supported by a majority vote. Accordingly, the authority of Georgy Apollonovich grew, and the number of members of the organization began to grow even faster. In January 1905, it already numbered 20 thousand people.

At the same time, the initiative of the clergyman gave rise to serious disagreements among like-minded people. The Karelins and their supporters insisted on the immediate filing of a petition, and Gapon believed that first it was necessary to organize an uprising, show the strength of the masses, and only after that demand economic and political freedoms. Otherwise, the Assembly will be shut down and the leaders arrested.

All this aggravated relations between the Karelins and Georgy Apollonovich to the extreme. The couple began to actively campaign for the overthrow of the leader. It is not known how it would all end, but circumstances intervened.

Incident at the Putilov factory

In early December 1904, 4 workers were fired at the Putilov factory. These are Fedorov, Injections, Sergunin and Subbotin. All of them were members of the Assembly. The master Tetyavkin fired them for production violations. But rumors quickly spread among the workers that people had been kicked out of the factory for their membership in the Assembly.

All this reached Gapon, and he declared that this dismissal is a challenge to him personally. The Assembly is obliged to protect its members, otherwise it is worthless. It was decided to send 3 deputations. The first to Smirnov, the director of the plant. The second to Chizhov, the inspector in charge of the plant. And the third to Fullon, the mayor.

A resolution with requirements was approved. This is the reinstatement of the dismissed and the dismissal of master Tetyavkin. In case of refusal, it was supposed to start a mass strike.

Deputations came to Smirnov and Chizhov on December 28 and were categorically refused. The third deputation was met the next day by the mayor Fullon. He was polite, helpful and promised to render all possible assistance.

Fullon talked personally with Witte about the unrest at the Putilov factory. But he decided not to make concessions to the working class. On January 2, 1905, Gapon and his like-minded people decided to start a strike, and already on January 3, the Putilov factory stopped. At the same time, leaflets with a list of economic demands on the authorities began to be distributed at other factories.

After the start of the strike, Georgy Apollonovich, at the head of the delegation, appeared to the director of the plant, Smirnov. The economic demands were read to him, but the director replied that he refused to fulfill them. Already on January 5, the strike began to cover other factories in the capital, and Gapon decided to address his demands directly to the emperor. He believed that only the king could decide this issue.

On the eve of Bloody Sunday

The revolutionary clergyman believed that many thousands of workers were to come to the royal palace. In this case, the sovereign was simply obliged to consider the petition and somehow respond to it.

The text of the petition was read to all members of the Assembly. All who heard her signed the appeal. By the end of the day on January 8, there were more than 40,000 of them. Gapon himself claimed that he had collected at least 100,000 signatures.

Familiarization with the petition was accompanied by speeches with which Georgy Apollonovich spoke to people. They were so bright and sincere that the listeners fell into ecstasy. People swore that they would come to Palace Square on Sunday. Gapon's popularity in these 3 days before bloody events reached unimaginable heights. There was a rumor that he was a new messiah sent by God to free the common people. At one word, plants and factories that employed thousands of people stopped.

At the same time, the leader called for the march without any weapons, so as not to give the authorities a reason to use force. It was also forbidden to take alcohol with you and to allow hooligan antics. Nothing should have disturbed the peaceful procession to the sovereign. They also appointed people whose duty it was to protect the king from the moment he appeared before the people.

However, the organizers of the peaceful demonstration became more and more convinced that the emperor would not appear before the workers. Most likely, he will send troops against them. This scenario was more likely. The use of weapons by the troops was also allowed. But there was no going back. On the eve of January 9, the city froze in anxious expectation.

The tsar and his family left St. Petersburg for Tsarskoe Selo on the evening of January 6th. On the evening of January 8, the Minister of the Interior held an emergency meeting. It was decided not only not to allow workers to the Palace Square, but also to the city center. They decided to set up military outposts along the route of the demonstration, and in case of excesses, use force. But no one even thought of organizing a massive bloody massacre. Officials believed that the mere sight of armed soldiers would frighten the workers, and they would be forced to go home. However, things did not work out as planned in advance.

In the early morning of January 9, 1905, the workers began to gather in their districts on the Vyborgskaya and Petersburg sides, behind the Neva and Narva outposts, in Kolpino, on Vasilyevsky Island. Total population the demonstrators numbered about 140 thousand people. All this mass of people moved in several columns to the Palace Square. There, the columns were to join by 2 o'clock in the afternoon and wait for the sovereign to come out to them.

The emperor had to accept the petition, and its delivery was entrusted to Gapon. At the same time, it was planned that the tsar would immediately sign 2 decrees: on the amnesty of political prisoners and on the convening of the Constituent Assembly. In the event that Nicholas II agreed with this demand, then the rebellious clergyman would come out to the people and wave a white handkerchief. This would serve as a signal for a nationwide celebration. In case of refusal, Gapon had to wave a red handkerchief, which would mean a signal for an uprising.

On the evening of January 8, the troops of the St. Petersburg Military District began to arrive in the capital of the empire. Already on the night of January 9 combat units took up fighting positions. In total, there were about 31 thousand cavalry and infantry. You can also add 10 thousand police officers to this. Thus, the government put up more than 40,000 people against the peaceful demonstration. All bridges were blocked by military detachments, cavalrymen rode along the street. The city in a few hours turned into a huge military camp.

Chronology of events

The workers of the Izhora plant from Kolpino were the first to move to Palace Square. because they had to travel the longest distance. At 9 o'clock in the morning they connected with the workers of the Nevsky Zastava. On the Shlisselburg tract, they were blocked by the Cossacks of the Ataman regiment. There were about 16 thousand workers. There were two hundred Cossacks. They fired several volleys with blanks. The crowd retreated, broke down the fence separating the street from the Neva, and moved on along the ice of the river.

On Vasilyevsky Island, the workers set off at 12 o'clock in the afternoon. There were about 6 thousand of them. The Cossacks and infantry blocked their way. The cavalry detachment of Cossacks wedged into the crowd. People were chopped down with swords, whipped with whips, trampled on by horses. The human mass retreated and began to build barricades from fallen telegraph poles. Red flags appeared from somewhere.

The soldiers opened fire, captured one barricade, but by this time the workers had already built another. Before the end of the day, the proletarians erected several more barricades. But all of them were captured by the troops, and live ammunition was fired at the rebels.

At the Narva outpost, Gapon came to the assembled workers. He put on the full vestments of a priest. A huge crowd of 50,000 people gathered at this place. People walked with icons and portraits of the king. The troops blocked their path at the Narva Gate. At first, the peaceful procession was attacked by the grenadiers, but the horsemen did not frighten the huge mass of people. Then the infantry began to shoot. The soldiers fired five volleys and the crowd began to disperse. The dead and wounded lay on the snow. In this skirmish, one of the bullets wounded Gapon in the arm, but he was quickly taken away from the fire.

On the Petersburg side, the crowd reached 20 thousand people. People walked in a dense mass, holding hands. The Pavlovsky regiment blocked their way. The soldiers started firing. Three shots were fired. The crowd trembled and rushed back. The dead and wounded lay on the snow. The cavalry was sent after the fleeing. Those who were caught up were trampled on by horses and cut down with swords.

But on the Vyborg side there were no casualties. The cavalry was sent to meet the procession. She dispersed the crowd. People, fleeing from horses, crossed over the ice across the Neva and continued on their way to the city center in small groups.

Despite the continuous military barriers, by noon a significant mass of people had gathered on Palace Square.. They managed to penetrate the city center in small groups. In addition to the workers, there were many onlookers and passers-by in the crowd. The day was Sunday, and everyone came to see how the rebellious people would hand over the petition to the tsar.

At two o'clock in the afternoon the cavalry units tried to disperse the crowd. But people joined hands, insults rained down on the soldiers. The Preobrazhensky Regiment entered the square. The soldiers lined up in a line and, on command, took their guns to the ready. The officer shouted to the crowd to disperse, but the crowd did not budge. The soldiers fired 2 volleys at the people. Everyone started to run. The dead and wounded remained lying on the square.

A huge crowd crowded on Nevsky Prospekt. By 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the entire avenue was blocked by workers and onlookers. They were not allowed to pass to the Palace Square by cavalry detachments. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, volleys were heard from the side of Palace Square. This made people angry. Stones and pieces of ice flew at the cavalrymen. Those, in turn, tried to cut the crowd into pieces, but the riders did it poorly.

At 4 o'clock a company of the Semyonovsky regiment appeared. She began to push the demonstrators, but met with fierce resistance. And then came the order to open fire. AT total 6 volleys were fired at people. Local clashes continued until late in the evening. The workers even built a barricade blocking the Nevsky. Only by 11 p.m. the demonstrators were dispersed and order was put on the avenue.

Thus ended Bloody Sunday. As for casualties, a total of 150 people were killed and several hundred wounded. Exact numbers is still unknown, and data from different sources differ significantly.

The yellow press called the figure more than 4 thousand killed. And the government reported 130 dead and 299 wounded. Some researchers are of the opinion that at least 200 people died and about 800 people were injured.

Conclusion

After the bloody events, Georgy Gapon fled abroad. In March 1906, he was strangled by the Socialist-Revolutionaries at one of the dachas near St. Petersburg. His body was found on 30 April. The dacha was rented by the Socialist-Revolutionary Pyotr Rutenberg. Apparently, he lured the former labor leader to the dacha. The failed leader was buried at the Assumption cemetery in the capital.

On January 10, 1905, the sovereign dismissed the mayor Fullon and the Minister of the Interior Svyatopolk-Mirsky. On January 20, the tsar received a delegation of workers and expressed sincere regret over what had happened. At the same time, he condemned the mass procession, saying that it was a crime to go to him in a rebellious crowd.

After the disappearance of Gapon, the enthusiasm of the workers disappeared. They went to work and the mass strike ended. But it was only a small respite. In the near future, new victims and political upheavals awaited the country.

The power of one person over another destroys, first of all, the one who rules.

Lev Tolstoy

Bloody Sunday - a mass procession of workers on January 9, 1905 to the tsar to present a Letter of demand. The demonstration was shot down, and its instigator, Pop Gapon, fled Russia. According to official figures, 130 people were killed and several hundred wounded that day. About how true these figures are, and how important the events of Bloody Sunday turned out to be for Russia, I will briefly talk in this material.

On January 3, 1905, a rebellion began at the Putilov factory. This was a consequence of the deterioration of the social situation of workers in Russia, and the reason was the dismissal of some workers of the Putilov factory. A strike began, which in just a few days swept the entire capital, virtually paralyzing its work. The rebellion gained mass character largely due to the "Assembly of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg." The organization was led by priest George Gapon. By January 8, when more than 200 thousand people were involved in the rebellion, it was decided to go to the king in order to deliver to him "the demands of the people." The document contained the following sections and requirements.

Petition of the people to the king

Group	Requirements
Measures against the ignorance and lack of rights of the people	Release of all those affected by political opinions
	Declaration of freedoms and inviolability of the person
	General public education at the expense of the state
	Responsibility of Ministers to the people
	Equality of all before the law
	Separation of church and state
Measures against people's poverty	Abolition of indirect taxes
	Cancellation of redemption payments for land
	Execution of all government orders within the country, not abroad
	Cessation of the war
Measures against the oppression of capital over the ruble	Cancellation of factory inspectors
	Creation of work commissions at all plants and factories
	Freedom of trade unions
	8-hour working day and overtime rationing
	Freedom of struggle between labor and capital
	Wage increase

Only measures against the oppression of capital over the ruble can be called "workers", that is, those that really worried the rebellious factory workers. The first 2 groups have nothing to do with the position of the workers, and were obviously brought in under pressure from the revolutionary organizations. Moreover, it was the first 2nd groups of demands that created Bloody Sunday, which began in the form of a struggle for the rights of workers, and ended in the form of a struggle against the autocracy. Freedom of the press, freedom political parties, the immediate end of the war, the abolition of indirect taxes, the amnesty of political prisoners, the separation of church and state - how does all this relate to the demands of the workers and their needs? At the very least, some points can be connected with the needs of the manufacturers, but how, for example, everyday life workers associated with the separation of church and state and the amnesty of all political prisoners? But it was these 2 points that transferred the rally to the category of revolution ...

Course of events

Chronology of the events of January 1905:

• January 3 - rebellion at the Putilov plant in response to the dismissal of workers. At the head of the rebellion is Pope Gapon, chairman of the Assembly.
• January 4-5 - the growth of the rebellion in other plants and factories. More than 150 thousand people are involved. The work of almost all plants and factories was stopped.
• January 6 - there were no significant events, since the holiday "Baptism" was celebrated.
• January 7 - 382 enterprises of St. Petersburg were engulfed in a rebellion, so the events could be called universal. On the same day, Gapon voices the idea of ​​a mass procession to the king in order to convey the demands.
• January 8 - Gapon passes a copy of the Appeal to the Tsar to the Minister of Justice - N.V. Muravyov. The government has been gathering the army into the city in the morning and blocking the center, since the revolutionary nature of the demands is obvious.
• January 9 - mass sixth columns to the Winter Palace. Execution of a demonstration by government troops.

The chronology of Bloody Sunday allows us to draw a paradoxical conclusion - the events were a provocation, and a mutual one at that. On the one hand, there were the police agencies of Russia (they wanted to show that they could solve any problem and scare the people), and on the other hand, revolutionary organizations (they needed a reason for the strike to develop into a revolution, and they could openly advocate the overthrow of the autocracy). And this provocation was successful. There were shots from the workers, there were shots from the army. As a result, shooting began. Official sources speak of 130 dead. In fact, there were many more victims. The press, for example, wrote (later Lenin used this figure) about 4,600 dead.

Gapon and his role

After the start of strikes big influence acquired by Gapon, who led the Assembly of Russian factory workers. Still say that Gapon was key figure no bloody sunday. Today, the idea is widely spread that the priest was an agent of the tsarist secret police and a provocateur. Many prominent historians talk about this, but not one of them has yet cited a single fact to prove this theory. Contacts between Gapon and the tsarist secret police were in 1904, and Gapon himself did not hide this. Moreover, the people who were members of the Assembly knew about it. But there is not a single fact that in January 1905 Gapon was a tsarist agent. Although after the revolution this issue was actively dealt with. If the Bolsheviks did not find any documents in the archives linking Gapon with the special services, then there really are none. So this theory is invalid.

Gapon put forward the idea of ​​creating a petition to the king, organizing a procession, and even led this procession himself. But he did not manage the process. If he really was the ideological inspirer of the mass upsurge of the workers, then the petition to the tsar would not have contained those revolutionary points.

After the events of January 9, Gapon fled abroad. He returned to Russia in 1906. Later he was arrested by the Socialist-Revolutionaries and executed for cooperation with the tsarist police. It happened on March 26, 1906.

Actions of the authorities

Characters:

• Lopukhin is the director of the police department.
• Muravyov is the Minister of Justice.
• Svyatopolk-Mirsky - Minister of the Interior. As a result, he was replaced by Trepov.
• Fullon is the mayor of St. Petersburg. As a result, he was replaced by Dedulin.
• Meshetic, Fullon - generals tsarist army

As for the shooting, it was the inevitable consequence of calling in the troops. After all, they were not called for the parade, were they?

Until the end of the day on January 7, the authorities did not consider the popular uprising as real threat. In general, no steps were taken to restore order. But on January 7, it became clear what threat Russia was facing. In the morning, the issue of introducing martial law in St. Petersburg is being discussed. In the evening there is a meeting of all actors and a decision is made to send troops to the city, but martial law is not introduced. At the same meeting, the question of arresting Gapon was raised, but this idea was abandoned, not wanting to further provoke the people. Later, Witte wrote: “At the meeting, it was decided that the workers’ demonstrators should not be allowed further than the known limits located on Palace Square.”

By 6 o'clock in the morning on January 8, 26.5 infantry companies (about 2.5 thousand people) were brought into the city, which began to settle down with the aim of "preventing". By evening, a plan was approved for the deployment of troops around Palace Square, but specific plan no action! There was only a recommendation - not to allow people. Therefore, in fact, everything was assigned to the army generals. They decided...

The spontaneous nature of the procession

Most history textbooks say that the uprising of the workers in Petrograd was spontaneous: the workers were tired of arbitrariness and the dismissal of 100 people from the Putilov factory became last straw which forced the workers to take action. It is said that the workers were headed only by the priest George Gapon, but there was no organization in this movement. The only thing that ordinary people wanted was to convey to the king the severity of their situation. There are 2 points that refute this hypothesis:

1. More than 50% of the items in the demands of the workers are political, economic and religious demands. This has nothing to do with the daily needs of the factory owners, and indicates that there were people behind them who used the discontent of the people to foment the revolution.
2. The mutiny that escalated into "Bloody Sunday" happened in 5 days. The work of all factories in St. Petersburg was paralyzed. More than 200 thousand people took part in the movement. Can this happen spontaneously and by itself?

On January 3, 1905, an uprising broke out at the Putilov factory. About 10 thousand people are involved in it. On January 4, 15,000 people were already on strike, and on January 8, about 180,000 people. It is obvious that an organization was needed to stop the entire industry of the capital and start a riot of 180 thousand people. Otherwise, for such short time frame nothing would have worked.

The role of Nicholas 2

Nicholas 2 is a very controversial figure in Russian history. On the one hand, today everyone justifies him (even canonized), but on the other hand, the collapse of the Russian Empire, Bloody Sunday, 2 revolutions are a direct consequence of his policy. At all important historical moments for Russia, Nikola 2 retired! So it was with Bloody Sunday. On January 8, 1908, everyone already understood that serious events were taking place in the country in the capital: more than 200 thousand people took part in strikes, the city’s industry was stopped, revolutionary organizations began to become active, a decision was made to send the army into the city, and even the question of introducing martial law in Petrograd was being considered. . And in such difficult situation On January 9, 1905, the Tsar was not in the capital! Historians today attribute this to 2 reasons:

1. They feared an assassination attempt on the emperor. Let's say, but what prevented the king, who is responsible for the country, from being in the capital under heavy guard and leading the process, making decisions? If they were afraid of an assassination attempt, then it was possible not to go out to the people, but the emperor is simply obliged at such moments to lead the country and make responsible decisions. It is equivalent if, during the defense of Moscow in 1941, Stalin left and was not even interested in what was happening there. This is not even possible! Nicholas 2 did just that, and modern liberals are still trying to justify him.
2. Nicholas 2 took care of his family and retired to protect his family. The argument is clearly sucked from the finger, but let's say. One question arises - what did all this lead to? During February Revolution Nicholas 2, just like on Bloody Sunday, abstained from making decisions - as a result, he lost his country, and it was because of this that his family was shot. In any case, the king is responsible not only for the family, but also for the country (or rather, primarily for the country).

The events of Bloody Sunday on January 9, 1905, they most clearly highlight the reasons why the Russian empire- The king was deeply indifferent to what was happening. On January 8, everyone knew that there would be a procession to the Winter Palace, everyone knew that it would be numerous. In preparation for this, the army is brought in, decrees are issued (albeit imperceptible to the masses) forbidding processions. At such an important moment for the country, when everyone understands what is being prepared serious event- the king is not in the capital! Can you imagine this, for example, under Ivan the Terrible, Peter 1, Alexander 3? Of course not. That's the whole difference. Nicholas 2 was a "local" person who thought only about himself and his family, and not about the country, for which he was responsible before God.

Who gave the order to shoot

The question of who gave the order to shoot during Bloody Sunday is one of the most difficult. Only one thing can be said for certain and for sure - Nicholas 2 did not give such an order, because he did not manage these events in any way (the reasons were discussed above). The version that the government wanted the shooting also does not stand up to scrutiny by the facts. Suffice it to say that on January 9, Svyatopolk-Mirsky and Fullon were removed from their posts. If we assume that Bloody Sunday was a government provocation, then the resignations of the main characters who know the truth are illogical.

It may rather be that the authorities did not expect this (including provocations), but they should have expected this, especially when regular troops. Farther army generals they simply acted in accordance with the order "not to allow". They did not allow people to move.

Significance and historical implications

The events of Bloody Sunday on January 9 and the shooting of a peaceful demonstration of workers were a terrible blow to the positions of the autocracy in Russia. If before 1905 no one said aloud that Russia did not need a tsar, but they spoke at most about convening a Constituent Assembly as a means of influencing the policy of the tsar, then after January 9, the slogans “Down with the autocracy!” began to be openly proclaimed. Already on January 9 and 10, spontaneous rallies began to form, where Nikolai 2 was the main object of criticism.

The second important consequence of the execution of the demonstration is the beginning of the revolution. Despite the strikes in St. Petersburg, it was only 1 city, but when the army shot the workers, the whole country rebelled and opposed the tsar. And it was the revolution of 1905-1907 that created the basis on which the events of 1917 were built. And all this is due to the fact that Nicholas 2 did not rule the country at critical moments.

Sources and literature:

• History of Russia, edited by A.N. Sakhorov
• History of Russia, Ostrovsky, Utkin.
• Beginning of the first Russian revolution. Documents and materials. Moscow, 1955.
• Red chronicle 1922-1928.

It is unlikely that there will be a more hardened and more deceitful myth in the Russian history of the twentieth century than the myth of the "bloody" resurrection. In order to remove the heaps of dirty and deliberate lies from this historical event, it is necessary to fix several main points related to the date "January 9, 1905":

1. It was not a spontaneous event. It was an action that had been prepared for many years, under the financing of which significant funds were allocated and significant forces were involved in the implementation of which.

More about it: http://cont.ws/post/176665

2. The very term "Bloody Sunday" was thrown into print on the same day. This term, by the way, was invented by an English journalist of that time, by the name of Dillon, who worked in a semi-socialist newspaper (I don’t know who likes it, but I strongly doubt the spontaneity of such a term, and even from an Englishman).

3. It is necessary to place several important, in my opinion, accents in relation to the events immediately preceding the tragedy of January 9:

1) Walked Russo-Japanese War, industry has already been set up for the production of military products. And so precisely at this moment, precisely at defense enterprises Petersburg, strikes begin, provoked false information about the alleged mass layoffs of workers at the Putilov plant.

The plant fulfills an important defense order. This is a special railway transporter for transporting submarines to the Far East. Russian submarines can change bad move naval war in our favor, but for this they need to be transferred to the Far East across the country. This cannot be done without the conveyor ordered by the Putilov factory.

After that, using "Meeting of factory workers", SRs organize a wave of strikes. The strikes are being organized according to the plan worked out by Trotsky, who was still abroad at the time.

The principle of chain transmission is used: workers from one strike factory burst into another and agitate for a strike; those who refuse to strike are subject to threats and physical terror.

“In some factories this morning, the workers wanted to start work, but they came with neighboring factories and persuaded to stop work. And then the strike started.” (Minister of Justice N.V. Ants).

Police reports said active participation in spreading the revolt of the Japanese and British secret services.

On January 4, the strike began at Obukhov and Nevsky plants. 26 thousand people are on strike. A leaflet was issued by the St. Petersburg Committee of the RSDLP "To all the workers of the Putilov factory": "We need political freedom, we need freedom to strike, to form unions and to assemble...".

On January 4 and 5 workers joined them. Franco-Russian shipbuilding plant and Semyannikovsky plant.

Myself Gapon later he explained the beginning of the general strike in St. Petersburg in this way by the workers of precisely these factories. “We decided ... to extend the strike to the Franco-Russian shipbuilding and Semyannikovsky factories, which numbered 14,000 workers. I chose these factories, because I knew that just at that time they were fulfilling very serious orders for the needs of the war."

Thus, under a deliberately far-fetched pretext, it was at defense enterprises, using the methods of threats and intimidation, that a mass strike was organized, which was the predecessor of January 9th.

2) The idea to go with a petition to the Tsar was submitted by the worker Gapon and his entourage on January 6-7.

But the workers, who were invited to go to the Tsar for help, were introduced to purely economic and, one might say, reasonable demands.

Having perceived the incident with his characteristic acute situations restraint, The sovereign, after the reception of foreign diplomatic representatives in the Winter Palace, scheduled for that day, at 4 p.m. of the same day left with his family for Tsarskoye Selo.

However, an artillery shot on January 6 finally intensified the actions of the military and police authorities in St. Petersburg.

Considering it as a possible assassination attempt on the Sovereign, which testified to the existence of a secret terrorist organization in the capital's garrison, the leadership of the Police Department was inclined to consider these events as the results of the activities of a well-hidden revolutionary organization operating on an all-Russian scale, which had begun to implement its plan to seize power in capital.

Here, including, perhaps, and therefore the commandant nevertheless distributed live ammunition, despite the decision of the authorities.

Until January 8, the authorities did not yet know that another petition was prepared behind the backs of the workers, with extremist demands. And when they found out, they were horrified.

An order is given to arrest Gapon, but it is too late, he has fled. And it is already impossible to stop a huge avalanche - the revolutionary provocateurs have done their best.

On January 9, hundreds of thousands of people are ready to meet with the Tsar. It cannot be canceled: the newspapers did not come out. And until late in the evening on the eve of January 9, hundreds of agitators walked through the working districts, exciting people, inviting them to a meeting with the Tsar, declaring again and again that this meeting was being prevented by the exploiters and officials.

The workers fell asleep with the thought of tomorrow's meeting with the Father-Tsar.

The Petersburg authorities, who gathered on the evening of January 8 for a meeting, realizing that it was already impossible to stop the workers, decided not to let them into the very center of the city.

the main task was not even to protect the Tsar (he was not in the city, he was in Tsarskoye Selo), but to prevent riots, the inevitable stampede and death of people as a result of the flow of huge masses from four sides in the narrow space of Nevsky Prospekt and Palace Square, among the embankments and canals. Tsarist ministers remembered the tragedy of Khodynka

Therefore, troops were drawn to the center, Cossacks with orders not to let people through, to use weapons when absolutely necessary.

In an effort to avert tragedy, the authorities issued a notice banning the January 9 march and warning of the danger.

Despite the fact that the flag over Zimny ​​was half-mast and the whole city knew that the Tsar was not in the city, some also knew about the order forbidding the procession.

ATTENTION: ON THE EVE OF JANUARY 9, ALL THE PRESS WAS ON STRIKE, WHICH DEPRESSED THE AUTHORITY TO DISTRIBUTE THE ANNOUNCEMENT BUT IMMEDIATELY AFTER THIS EVENTS, THEY WERE INSTANTLY COMING OUT IN A HUGE CIRCULATION, AS IF PREPARED, DECUSIVE ARTICLES.

5. The very nature of the procession was not initially peaceful.

The beginning of a mass procession of workers of St. Petersburg in that part of the city where the priest himself was G. Gapon.

The procession from the Narva outpost was led by Gapon himself, who constantly shouted out: "If we are denied, then we no longer have a King."

He described it in his memoirs as follows: “I thought it would be good to give the whole demonstration a religious character, and immediately sent several workers to the nearest church for banners and images, but they refused to give us them. Then I sent 100 people take them by force and after a few minutes they brought them.

Then I ordered that a royal portrait be brought from our department in order to emphasize the peaceful and decent character of our procession. The crowd grew to enormous proportions...

“Should we go straight to the Narva outpost or take a roundabout way?” they asked me. “Straight to the outpost, take heart, or death or freedom,” I shouted. In response, there was a thunderous “hurrah”.

The procession moved to the powerful singing of “Save, O Lord, Thy people”, and when it came to the words “Our Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich”, the representatives of the socialist parties invariably replaced them with the words “save Georgy Apollonovich”, while others repeated “death or freedom”.

The procession was in full force. My two bodyguards walked ahead of me ... Children ran along the sides of the crowd ... when the procession moved, the police not only did not interfere with us, but walked with us without hats ... "

As it is clear from the above description, from the very beginning of the procession of workers led by G. Gapon, the Orthodox-monarchist paraphernalia in this procession was combined with a very active desire of the representatives of the revolutionary parties participating in it to direct the actions of the workers along the path of their tough confrontation with representatives of the authorities, even though there were women and children among the workers

Representatives of all parties were distributed among individual columns of workers (there should be eleven of them - according to the number of branches of the Gapon organization).

Socialist-Revolutionary fighters were preparing weapons. The Bolsheviks put together detachments, each of which consisted of a standard-bearer, an agitator and a core that defended them (that is, the same militants).

They prepared banners and banners: “Down with the autocracy!”, “Long live the revolution!”, “To arms, comrades!”

The first meeting of the workers with the troops and the police took place at 12 noon near the Narva Gate.

A crowd of workers, approximately 2,000 to 3,000 people, moved along the Peterhof Highway towards the Narva triumphal gate, carrying with them portraits of the Tsar and Tsarina, crosses and banners.

Police officers, who came out to meet the crowd, persuaded the workers not to go into the city, and repeatedly warned that otherwise the troops would shoot at them.

When all exhortations did not lead to any results, the squadron of the Horse Grenadier Regiment tried to force the workers to return back.

At that moment, lieutenant Zholtkevich was seriously wounded by a shot from the crowd, and the police officer was killed.

The crowd, as the squadron approached, dispersed around, and then 2 shots from a revolver were fired from its side, which did not cause any harm to any of the people of the squadron and hit only the horse's mane. In addition, one of the workers stabbed a platoon non-commissioned officer with a cross.

As you can see, the first shots were fired not from the side of the troops, but from the side of the crowd, and the first victims were not the workers, but the ranks of the police and the army.

Let us also note how one of the “believing” participants in the demonstration behaves: he beats a non-commissioned officer with a cross!

When the squadron met armed resistance and, unable to stop the movement of the crowd, returned back, the officer in command of the troops warned three times about the opening of fire, and only after these warnings had no effect, and the crowd continued to advance, more than 5 volleys were fired, whereupon the crowd turned back and quickly dispersed, leaving over forty dead and wounded.

Assistance was immediately provided to the latter, and all of them, with the exception of the slightly wounded, taken by the crowd, were placed in the hospitals of Aleksandrovskaya, Alafuzovskaya and Obukhovskaya.

Events developed in approximately the same way in other places - on the Vyborg side, on Vasilevsky Island, on the Shlisselburgsky tract.

Red banners appeared, slogans "Down with the autocracy!", "Long live the revolution!" (It's military time!!!)

Isn't it true that this picture is strikingly different from the sadistic execution of an unarmed crowd carried out by forced soldiers under the command of officers who hate the common people?

Two more powerful columns of workers followed the center from the Vyborg and Petersburg sides.

Bailiff of the 1st section of the Petersburg part of Krylov, stepping forward, turned to the crowd with exhortations to stop moving and turn back. The crowd stopped, but continued to stand. Then the companies, closing their bayonets, moved towards the crowd with shouts of “Hurrah!” The crowd was pushed back and began to disperse. There were no casualties among her.

On Vasilyevsky Island, the crowd behaved aggressively and revolutionary from the very beginning.

Even before the first shots were fired, the crowd, led by a Bolshevik L.D. Davydov, took over Schaff's armory. 200 people defeated the administration of the 2nd section of the Vasilyevsky police unit.

Major General Samghin reported: “At about 1 o'clock in the afternoon, the crowd on the 4th line, having significantly increased in number, began to arrange wire fences, build barricades and throw out red flags. The companies moved forward. (...) During the movement of the companies from house No. 35 along the 4th line, as well as from the house under construction opposite it, bricks, stones were thrown and shots were fired.

On Maly Prospekt, the crowd rallied and began to shoot. Then one half-company of the 89th infantry. Belomorsky regiment fired 3 volleys. (…)

During these actions, one student was arrested, addressing the soldiers with a defiant speech, and a loaded revolver was found with him. During the actions of the troops on Vasilyevsky Island, the troops detained 163 people for robbery and armed resistance.

It was against such a "peaceful" crowd that the troops on Vasilyevsky Island had to act! 163 armed militants and robbers do not look like peaceful loyal citizens.

By the way, the greatest number of victims on both sides was brought not by the pacification of the demonstrators in the first half of the day, but by the skirmishes with the rioters on Vasilyevsky Island, when the militants tried to hold the arsenals and local weapons stores.

All this clearly shows that any claims about a "peaceful" demonstration are lies.

The crowd, excited by trained militants, smashed weapons stores and erected barricades.

“In Brick Lane,” Lopukhin later reported to Tsar, “the crowd attacked two policemen, one of them was beaten. Major General Elrich was beaten on Morskaya Street, one captain was beaten on Gorokhovaya Street, and a bailiff was killed.”

It should be noted that such militants were in all work columns.

It should be noted that the troops, wherever they could, tried to act with exhortations, persuasion, trying to prevent bloodshed.

Where there were no revolutionary instigators, or there were not enough of them to influence the crowd, the officers managed to avoid bloodshed.

So, in the area of ​​the Alexander Nevsky Lavra and the Rozhdestvenskaya part, there were no casualties or clashes. The same is true in the Moscow part.

None of the columns of demonstrators reached the Palace Square.

The columns did not even cross the Neva (those who moved from Vasilyevsky Island, the Petrograd and Vyborg sides) and the Fontanka (those who moved from the Narva outpost and the Shlisselburg tract).

The most numerous of them, marching under the leadership of Gapon from the Putilov plant, was scattered near the Obvodny Canal. To disperse the columns, weapons were also used at the Shlisselburg fire station and at the Trinity Bridge.

On Vasilyevsky Island there was a real battle with the revolutionaries, who had entrenched themselves on the barricades (these are no longer "columns of a peaceful procession").

Nowhere else were shots fired at the crowd. This is a historical fact confirmed by police reports.

Small groups of hooligan "revolutionaries" really penetrated the city center. On Morskaya Street they beat Major General Elrich, on Gorokhovaya Street they beat one captain and detained a courier, and his car was broken. A cadet of the Nikolaev Cavalry School, who was passing by in a cab, was dragged off the sleigh, the saber with which he defended himself was broken, and he was beaten and wounded. But these "freedom fighters" fled from one kind of Cossack patrols that appeared in the distance.

Later, after the events of January 9, Gapon asked in a narrow circle: “Well, Father George, now we are alone and there is nothing to be afraid that dirty linen will be taken out of the hut, and it’s a thing of the past. honor, honor, listen to the deputies kindly, everything would have worked out well. Well, what do you think, Father George, what would happen if the Sovereign went out to the people?

Quite unexpectedly, but in a sincere tone, Gapon answered: "They would have killed in half a minute, half a second!"

So, when the enemies of the authorities then wrote that the Sovereign “would have to go out to the crowd and agree to at least one of its demands” (which one - about the 9th constituent assembly?) and then “the whole crowd would kneel before him”, - this was the grossest distortion of reality.

Now, now that we know all these circumstances, we can take a different look at the events of January 9, 1905 itself.

The idea of ​​the revolutionaries was simple: several columns of provoked demonstrators, in whose ranks the revolutionary terrorists were supposed to hide for the time being, intended to be led to the Winter Palace in order to transfer the petition personally to the Sovereign.

Other columns were to be prevented from reaching the Palace Square, but shot on the approaches to the city center, which would have fueled the indignation of those gathered at the palace. At the moment when the Sovereign appeared for a pacifying appeal, the terrorist was supposed to kill the Emperor.

Part of this diabolical plan succeeded.

On the evening of January 9 Gapon writes a slanderous inflammatory leaflet: "January 9, 12 o'clock at night. To the soldiers and officers who killed their innocent brothers, their wives and children, and to all the oppressors of the people, my pastoral curse; to the soldiers who will help the people seek freedom, my blessing. Their soldier's oath to the traitor Tsar, who ordered the shedding of innocent blood folk, I allow. Priest Georgy Gapon. "

Subsequently, in the press organ of the Socialist-Revolutionaries "Revolutionary Russia"This false priest called:" Ministers, mayors, governors, police officers, police officers, guards, gendarmes and spies, generals and officers who order to shoot at you - kill ... All measures so that you have real weapons and dynamite in time - you know, they are accepted ... Refuse to go to war ... Revolt at the direction of the combat committee ... Destroy water pipelines, gas pipelines, telephones, telegraph, lighting, horse cars, trams, railways ... ".

Further street clashes were stopped almost within one day. On January 11, the troops were returned to the barracks, and the order on the streets of the city was again controlled by the police, reinforced by Cossack patrols.

January 14, 1905 condemned the riots Holy Synod:

“For almost a year now, Russia has been waging a bloody war with the pagans for its historical calling as a planter of Christian enlightenment in the Far East ... But now, a new test of God, grief - bitterer than the first visited our beloved fatherland ...

The criminal instigators of ordinary working people, having in their midst an unworthy clergyman who boldly violated holy vows and is now subject to the judgment of the Church, were not ashamed to give into the hands of the deceived workers an honest cross, holy icons and banners, forcibly taken from the chapel, so that, under the protection of shrines revered by believers , or rather, lead them to disorder, and others to death.

Workers of the Russian land, working people! Work according to the commandment of the Lord in the sweat of your face, remembering that the one who does not work is not worthy of food. Beware of your false advisers...they are accomplices or mercenaries evil enemy seeking the ruin of the Russian land "

The emperor dismissed the ministers: Svyatopolk-Mirsky and Muravyov. General was appointed as the new governor-general Trepov, stopping the riots in the city without bloodshed.

The general gave the famous order to the troops: “Do not spare the cartridges!”, but at the same time he did everything to ensure that this order became widely known. The riots have stopped.

"Unfortunate events with sad, but inevitable consequences troubles, originated from the fact that you allowed yourself to be misled and deceived by traitors and enemies of our Motherland. I know that the life of a worker is not easy. Much needs to be improved and put in order” (from the speech of Nicholas II before the deputation of workers on January 19, 1905).

You have allowed yourself to be led astray and deceived by the traitors and enemies of our country... military force, and this inevitably causes innocent victims. I know that the life of a worker is not easy. Much needs to be improved and put in order. But it is criminal to tell me about your demands with a rebellious crowd.

Already on January 14, the strike in St. Petersburg began to wane. On January 17, the Putilov plant resumed work.

On January 29, a "Commission was set up to investigate the causes of workers' dissatisfaction in St. Petersburg and its suburbs and the search for measures to eliminate them in the future", which eventually achieved complete appeasement of the workers of the capital.

Thus ended the first act of a pre-planned bloody anti-anti-Russian turmoil, later called the "Russian revolution".

Socialist-Revolutionary fighters were preparing another attempt on the Tsar which was to take place at the ball. Terrorist Tatyana Leontyeva managed to sneak into the confidence of the organizers of one of the secular balls and on the 12th received an offer to engage in a charitable sale of flowers. She offered to personally commit regicide. However, the ball was cancelled.

From the diary of Nicholas II:

“January 9th. Sunday. Hard day! Serious riots broke out in St. Petersburg as a result of the desire of the workers to reach the Winter Palace. The troops had to shoot in different parts of the city, there were many killed and wounded. Lord, how painful and hard! ... "

According to official statistics, on January 9, 96 people, including police officers, were killed, 233 were injured. According to other sources, there were 130 people, wounded - 311.

Nicholas II donated 50,000 rubles from his personal funds in favor of the workers who suffered on January 9, and issued large monetary compensations to all the families of the victims. (It was then possible to buy a good cow for 25 rubles, and families received an average of 1,500 rubles).

The revolutionaries took advantage of the situation and spread the rumor that in fact about five thousand people were killed and injured ...

But the primary source on which the capital's journalists relied was a leaflet, distributed in St. Petersburg since 5 p.m. on January 9 . It was in it that "thousands of workers shot on Palace Square" were reported.

But, excuse me, how could it have been written and replicated by that time, especially since on Sunday the printing houses did not work, sent to the districts and distributed to distributors? It is obvious that this provocative leaflet was made in advance, no later than January 8, i.е. when neither the place of execution nor the number of victims was known to the authors.

According to a study by Dr. historical sciences A. N. Zashikhin in 2008, there are no grounds for recognizing this figure as reliable.

Similar inflated figures were reported by other foreign agencies. Thus, the British agency Laffan reported 2,000 killed and 5,000 wounded, the Daily Mail reported more than 2,000 killed and 5,000 wounded, and the Standard newspaper reported 2,000-3,000 killed and 7,000-8,000 wounded.

Subsequently, all this information was not confirmed.

Liberation magazine reported that a certain "organizing committee Institute of Technology” published “secret police information” that determined the number of people killed at 1216 people. No confirmation of this message was found.

Gapon was stripped of his church title and declared the most notorious criminal of the Orthodox Church. He was accused by the clergy of (and I quote) "designed to inspire Orthodox words truth and the Gospel, obliged to distract them from false directions and criminal aspirations, he, with a cross on his chest, in clothes

😆Tired of serious articles? lift your spirits

April 6th, 2013

I suggest you familiarize yourself with this version of events:

At the first sprouts of the labor movement in Russia, F.M. Dostoevsky sharply noted the scenario according to which it would develop. In his novel "Demons" "Shpigulin's rebels", that is, the workers of the local factory, "driven to the extreme" by the owners; they crowded and wait for "the bosses to figure it out." But demonic shadows of "well-wishers" dart behind their backs. And they know that they are guaranteed a win no matter what the outcome. If the authorities go towards the working people, they will show weakness, which means they will drop their authority. “We won’t give them a break, comrades! We will not rest on our laurels, toughen the requirements!” Will the authorities take a tough stance, begin to restore order - “Higher is the banner of holy hatred! Shame and curse on the executioners!”

By the beginning of the XX century. the rapid growth of capitalism labor movement one of key factors domestic life. The economic struggle of the workers and the state development of factory legislation led a joint offensive against the arbitrariness of employers. By controlling this process, the state tried to restrain the process of radicalization of the growing labor movement, which was dangerous for the country. But in the struggle against the revolution for the people, it suffered a crushing defeat. And the decisive role here belongs to the event, which will forever remain in history as "Bloody Sunday".

Troops on Palace Square.

In January 1904, the war between Russia and Japan began. At first, this war, going on on the far periphery of the Empire, on internal position Russia did not influence in any way, especially since the economy maintained its usual stability. But as soon as Russia began to fail, a lively interest in the war was revealed in society. Eagerly waiting for new defeats and sent Japanese emperor congratulatory telegrams. It was joyful to hate Russia together with "progressive mankind"! Hatred of the Fatherland has become so widespread that in Japan they began to treat Russian liberals and revolutionaries as their "fifth column". The sources of their funding appeared "Japanese trace". Shaking the state, haters of Russia tried to call revolutionary situation. The Socialist-Revolutionaries-terrorists went to more and more daring and bloody deeds, by the end of 1904 a strike movement unfolded in the capital.

Priest Georgy Gapon and mayor I. A. Fullon at the opening of the Kolomna department of the Assembly of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg

At the same time, in the capital, the revolutionaries were preparing an action that was destined to become "Bloody Sunday". The action was conceived only on the grounds that there was a person in the capital who could organize and lead it - priest George Gapon, and it must be admitted that this circumstance was used with brilliance. Who could lead the hitherto unseen crowd of St. Petersburg workers, in the majority of yesterday's peasants, if not their favorite priest? Both women and old people were ready to follow the "father", multiplying the mass character of the people's procession.

Priest George Gapon headed the legal working organization"Collection of Russian factory workers". In the "Assembly", organized on the initiative of Colonel Zubatov, the leadership was actually captured by the revolutionaries, which was not known to the ordinary participants in the "Assembly". Gapon was forced to maneuver between the opposing forces, trying to "stand above the fray." The workers surrounded him with love and trust, his authority grew, the number of the "Assembly" grew, but, involved in provocations and political games, the priest committed treason to his pastoral ministry.

At the end of 1904, the liberal intelligentsia became more active, demanding decisive liberal reforms, and in early January 1905, St. Petersburg was on strike. At the same time, the radical environment of Gapon “throws” into the working masses the idea of ​​​​submitting a petition to the tsar about the needs of the people. The submission of this petition to the Sovereign will be organized as a mass procession to the Winter Palace, which will be led by the beloved priest George. At first glance, the petition may seem like a strange document, it is written as if by different authors: the humbly loyal tone of the appeal to the Sovereign is combined with the extreme radicalness of the demands - up to the convening of a constituent assembly. In other words, they demanded self-destruction from the legitimate government. The text of the petition was not distributed to the people.

Sovereign!

We, the workers and residents of the city of St. Petersburg different classes, our wives, and children, and helpless old parents, came to you, sovereign, to seek truth and protection. We are impoverished, we are oppressed, we are burdened overwork, we are abused, we are not recognized as people, we are treated like slaves who must endure their bitter fate and remain silent. We have endured, but we are being pushed further and further into the maelstrom of poverty, lack of rights and ignorance, we are being strangled by despotism and arbitrariness, and we are suffocating. Not more strength, sovereign. There is a limit to patience. That terrible moment came for us when better death, how. continuation of unbearable torment (...)

Look without anger, carefully at our requests, they are directed not to evil, but to good, both for us and for you, sovereign! It is not impudence that speaks in us, but consciousness, the need to get out of an unbearable situation for all. Russia is too big, her needs are too varied and numerous, for officials alone to manage her. Popular representation is necessary, it is necessary that the people themselves help themselves and govern themselves. After all, he only knows his true needs. Do not push away his help, they ordered immediately, immediately to call on representatives of the Russian land from all classes, from all estates, representatives and from the workers. Let there be a capitalist, and a worker, and an official, and a priest, and a doctor, and a teacher - let everyone, whoever they are, elect their representatives. Let everyone be equal and free in the right to vote - and for this they commanded that elections to the Constituent Assembly take place under the condition of universal, secret and equal voting. This is our biggest request...

But one measure still cannot heal our wounds. Others are also needed:

I. Measures against the ignorance and lawlessness of the Russian people.

1) Immediate release and return of all those who suffered for political and religious beliefs, for strikes and peasant unrest.

2) Immediate declaration of freedom and inviolability of the person, freedom of speech, press, freedom of assembly, freedom of conscience in matters of religion.

3) General and compulsory public education at the expense of the state.

4) Responsibility of ministers to the people and guarantees of the legitimacy of government.

5) Equality before the law of all without exception.

6) Separation of church and state.

II. Measures against the poverty of the people.

1) The abolition of indirect taxes and their replacement by a direct progressive income tax.

2) Cancellation of redemption payments, cheap credit and transfer of land to the people.

3) The execution of orders from the military and naval departments should be in Russia, and not abroad.

4) Termination of the war by the will of the people.

III. Measures against the oppression of capital over labor.

1) Abolition of the institution of factory inspectors.

2) The establishment of standing committees of elected workers at factories and factories, which, together with the administration, would examine all the claims of individual workers. The dismissal of a worker cannot take place otherwise than by the decision of this commission.

3) Freedom of consumer-industrial and trade unions - immediately.

4) 8-hour working day and normalization of overtime work.

5) Freedom for the struggle of labor against capital—immediately.

6) Normal working pay - immediately.

7) The indispensable participation of representatives of the working classes in the elaboration of a draft law on state insurance of workers—immediately.

Here, sir, are our main needs with which we have come to you. Only if they are satisfied is it possible to liberate our country from slavery and poverty, to prosper, it is possible for the workers to organize to protect their interests from the exploitation of the capitalists and the bureaucratic government that is robbing and strangling the people.

Command and swear to fulfill them, and you will make Russia both happy and glorious, and your name imprinted in the hearts of our and our descendants for all eternity. And if you don’t believe it, if you don’t answer our prayer, we will die here, on this square, in front of your palace. We have nowhere else to go and no reason to. We have only two paths: either to freedom and happiness, or to the grave... Let our life be a sacrifice for suffering Russia. We do not feel sorry for this sacrifice, we willingly make it!”

http://www.hrono.ru/dokum/190_dok/19050109petic.php

Gapon knew for what purpose his "friends" were raising a mass procession to the palace; he rushed about, realizing what he was involved in, but did not find a way out and, continuing to pretend to be people's leader, before last moment assured the people (and himself) that there would be no bloodshed. On the eve of the procession, the tsar left the capital, but no one tried to stop the disturbed popular element. The case was coming to an end. The people aspired to the Winter Palace, and the authorities were determined, realizing that "taking the Winter Palace" would be a serious bid for the victory of the enemies of the Tsar and the Russian state.

Until January 8, the authorities did not yet know that another petition was prepared behind the backs of the workers, with extremist demands. And when they found out, they were horrified. An order is given to arrest Gapon, but it is too late, he has fled. And it is already impossible to stop the huge avalanche - the revolutionary provocateurs have done a great job.

On January 9, hundreds of thousands of people are ready to meet with the Tsar. It cannot be canceled: newspapers were not published (In St. Petersburg, strikes paralyzed the activities of almost all printing houses - A.E.). And until late in the evening on the eve of January 9, hundreds of agitators walked through the working districts, exciting people, inviting them to a meeting with the Tsar, declaring again and again that this meeting was being prevented by the exploiters and officials. The workers fell asleep with the thought of tomorrow's meeting with the Father-Tsar.

The St. Petersburg authorities, who gathered on the evening of January 8 for a meeting, realizing that it was already impossible to stop the workers, decided not to let them into the very center of the city (it was already clear that the assault on the Winter Palace was actually expected). The main task was not even to protect the Tsar (he was not in the city, he was in Tsarskoe Selo and was not going to come), but to prevent riots, the inevitable stampede and death of people as a result of the flow of huge masses from four sides on the narrow space of Nevsky Prospekt and Palace Square, among the embankments and canals. The tsarist ministers remembered the tragedy of Khodynka when, as a result criminal negligence local Moscow authorities in a stampede killed 1389 people and about 1300 were injured. Therefore, troops were drawn to the center, Cossacks with orders not to let people through, to use weapons when absolutely necessary.

In an effort to avert tragedy, the authorities issued a notice banning the January 9 march and warning of the danger. But due to the fact that only one printing house worked, the circulation of the advertisement was limited, and it was pasted too late.

January 9, 1905 Cavalrymen at the Pevchesky Bridge delay the movement of the procession to the Winter Palace.

Representatives of all parties were distributed among individual columns of workers (there should be eleven of them - according to the number of branches of the Gapon organization). Socialist-Revolutionary fighters were preparing weapons. The Bolsheviks put together detachments, each of which consisted of a standard-bearer, an agitator and a core that defended them (that is, the same militants).

All members of the RSDLP are required to be at the collection points by six o'clock in the morning.

They prepared banners and banners: “Down with the autocracy!”, “Long live the revolution!”, “To arms, comrades!”

Before the start of the procession, a prayer service for the health of the Tsar was served in the chapel of the Putilov Factory. The procession had all the features procession. In the forefront they carried icons, banners and royal portraits(It is interesting that some of the icons and banners were simply captured during the looting of two churches and a chapel along the route of the columns).

But from the very beginning, long before the first shots were fired, at the other end of the city, on Vasilyevsky Island and in some other places, groups of workers led by revolutionary provocateurs built barricades of telegraph poles and wire, hoisted red flags.

Participants of Bloody Sunday

At first, the workers did not pay much attention to the barricades, noticing and indignant. From the columns of workers moving towards the center, exclamations were heard: “These are no longer ours, we don’t need it, these are students playing around.”

The total number of participants in the procession to Palace Square is estimated at about 300 thousand people. Separate columns numbered several tens of thousands of people. This huge mass fatally moved towards the center and the closer it came to it, the more it was subjected to agitation by revolutionary provocateurs. There were no shots yet, and some people spread the most incredible rumors about mass executions. Attempts by the authorities to introduce the procession into the framework of the order were rebuffed on purpose organized groups(predetermined routes for the columns were violated, two cordons were broken through and dispersed).

The head of the Police Department, Lopukhin, who, by the way, sympathized with the socialists, wrote about these events: “Electrified by agitation, crowds of workers, not succumbing to the usual general police measures and even cavalry attacks, stubbornly rushed to the Winter Palace, and then, irritated by the resistance, began to attack to military units. This state of affairs led to the need for emergency measures to restore order, and military units had to act against huge gatherings of workers with firearms.

The procession from the Narva outpost was led by Gapon himself, who constantly shouted out: "If we are denied, then we no longer have a Tsar." The column approached bypass channel, where the ranks of soldiers blocked her path. The officers suggested that the crowd, which was pushing harder and harder, stop, but it did not obey. The first volleys followed, blank ones. The crowd was ready to return, but Gapon and his assistants went forward and dragged the crowd along. Live shots rang out.

Events developed in approximately the same way in other places - on the Vyborg side, on Vasilevsky Island, on the Shlisselburg tract. Red banners appeared, slogans “Down with autocracy!”, “Long live the revolution!” The crowd, excited by trained militants, smashed weapons stores and erected barricades. On Vasilyevsky Island, a crowd led by the Bolshevik L.D. Davydov, captured Schaff's weapons workshop. “In Brick Lane,” Lopukhin reported to the Tsar, “the crowd attacked two policemen, one of them was beaten.

Major General Elrikh was beaten on Morskaya Street, one captain was beaten on Gorokhovaya Street, and a courier was detained, and his motor was broken. A junker of the Nikolaev Cavalry School, who was passing by in a cab, was dragged off the sleigh by the crowd, broke the saber with which he defended himself, and beat him and wounded him ...

Gapon at the Narva Gate called on the people to clash with the troops: "Freedom or death!" and only accidentally did not die when volleys were fired (the first two volleys were blank, the next volley was combat over the heads, subsequent volleys into the crowd). The crowds going to the "capture of the Winter" were dispersed. About 120 people died, about 300 were injured. Immediately, a cry was raised around the world about the many thousands of victims of the "bloody tsarist regime", calls were made for its immediate overthrow, and these calls were successful. The enemies of the Tsar and the Russian people, who pretended to be his "well-wishers", extracted the maximum propaganda effect from the tragedy of January 9. Subsequently, the communist authorities entered this date into the calendar as the obligatory Day of Hatred for the people.

Father Georgy Gapon believed in his mission, and, walking at the head of the people's procession, he could die, but the Socialist-Revolutionary P. Rutenberg, assigned to him by the "commissar" from the revolutionaries, helped him escape from the shots. It is clear that Rutenberg and his friends were aware of Gapon's ties to the Police Department. If his reputation had been impeccable, he would obviously have been shot under volleys in order to carry his image to the people in the halo of a hero and martyr. The possibility of the destruction of this image by the authorities was the reason for saving Gapon that day, but already in 1906 he was executed as a provocateur "in his own circle" under the leadership of the same Rutenberg, who, as A.I. Solzhenitsyn, "later left to recreate Palestine"...

In total, on January 9, 96 people were killed (including a police officer) and up to 333 people were wounded, of whom another 34 people died before January 27 (including one assistant bailiff). So, in total, 130 people were killed and about 300 wounded.

Thus ended the pre-planned action of the revolutionaries. On the same day, the most incredible rumors began to spread about thousands of those who were shot and that the execution was specially organized by the sadistic Tsar, who wished for the blood of the workers.

Graves of the victims of Bloody Sunday 1905

At the same time, some sources give more appreciated the number of victims - about a thousand killed and several thousand wounded. In particular, in an article by V. I. Lenin, published on January 18 (31), 1905, in the newspaper Vperyod, the figure of 4,600 killed and wounded, which subsequently received wide circulation in Soviet historiography, is given. According to the results of a study carried out by Doctor of Historical Sciences A.N. Zashikhin in 2008, there are no grounds for recognizing this figure as reliable.

Similar inflated figures were reported by other foreign agencies. Thus, the British agency Laffan reported 2,000 dead and 5,000 wounded, the Daily Mail about more than 2,000 killed and 5,000 wounded, and the Standard newspaper about 2,000-3,000 killed and 7,000-8,000 wounded. Subsequently, all this information was not confirmed. Liberation magazine reported that a certain "organizing committee of the Technological Institute" published "secret police information" that determined the number of people killed at 1216 people. No confirmation of this message was found.

Subsequently, the press, hostile to the Russian government, exaggerated the number of victims dozens of times, without bothering to provide documentary evidence. Bolshevik V. Nevsky, already in Soviet time who studied the issue according to documents, wrote that the death toll did not exceed 150-200 people (Krasnaya Letopis, 1922. Petrograd. Vol. 1. P. 55-57) This is the story of how revolutionary parties cynically used the sincere aspirations of the people for their own purposes, substituting them under the guaranteed bullets of the soldiers defending the Winter.

From the diary of Nicholas II:

January 9th. Sunday. Hard day! Serious riots broke out in St. Petersburg as a result of the desire of the workers to reach the Winter Palace. The troops had to shoot in different parts of the city, there were many killed and wounded. Lord, how painful and hard! …

On January 16, the Holy Synod addressed the recent events with a message to all Orthodox:

«<…>The Holy Synod, grieving, implores the children of the church to obey authority, pastors to preach and teach, those in power to protect the oppressed, the rich to generously do good deeds, and workers to work hard and beware of false advisers - accomplices and hirelings of the evil enemy.

You have allowed yourself to be led astray and deceived by traitors and enemies of our country... Strikes and rebellious gatherings only excite the crowd to such unrest, which has always forced and will force the authorities to resort to military force, and this inevitably causes innocent victims. I know that the life of a worker is not easy. Much needs to be improved and put in order. But it is criminal to tell me about your demands with a rebellious crowd.

Speaking about the hasty order of the frightened authorities who ordered to shoot, it should also be remembered that the atmosphere around royal palace was very tense, because three days earlier an attempt had been made on the Sovereign. January 6, during the Epiphany water blessing on the Neva in Peter and Paul Fortress fired a salute, in which one of the cannons fired a live charge towards the Emperor. A buckshot shot pierced the banner Marine Corps, hit the windows of the Winter Palace and seriously wounded the gendarme bailiff on duty. The officer commanding the salute immediately committed suicide, so the cause of the shot remained a mystery. Immediately after this, the Sovereign and his family left for Tsarskoye Selo, where he stayed until January 11. Thus, the Tsar did not know about what was happening in the capital, he was not in St. Petersburg that day, but the revolutionaries and liberals attributed the blame for what happened to him, calling him “Nikolai the Bloody” since then.

All the victims and the families of the victims, by order of the Sovereign, were paid benefits in the amount of one and a half years' earnings of a skilled worker. On January 18, Minister Svyatopolk-Mirsky was dismissed. On January 19, the Tsar received a deputation of workers from large factories and factories of the capital, who already on January 14, in an appeal to the Metropolitan of St. convey this repentance to the Sovereign.

sources
http://www.russdom.ru/oldsayte/2005/200501i/200501012.html Vladimir Sergeyevich ZHILKIN

Remember how we figured out, and also tried to expose

The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -

January 9 (according to the new style January 22), 1905 - an important historical event in recent history Russia. On this day, with the tacit consent of Emperor Nicholas II, a 150,000-strong procession of workers was shot in St. Petersburg, who were going to hand over to the tsar a petition signed by tens of thousands of Petersburgers with a request for reforms.

The reason for organizing the procession to the Winter Palace was the dismissal of four workers of the largest Putilov plant in St. Petersburg (now the Kirov plant). On January 3, a strike of 13,000 factory workers began demanding the return of those laid off, the introduction of an 8-hour working day, and the abolition of overtime work.

The strikers created an elective commission from the workers to jointly with the administration analyze the claims of the workers. Demands were developed: to introduce an 8-hour working day, to abolish mandatory overtime work, to establish a minimum wage, not to punish strikers, etc. On January 5, the Central Committee of the Russian Social Democratic workers from other factories to join it.

The Putilovites were supported by the Obukhovsky, Nevsky shipbuilding, cartridge and other factories, by January 7 the strike became general (according to incomplete official data, over 106 thousand people took part in it).

Nicholas II handed over power in the capital to the military command, which decided to crush the labor movement before it turned into a revolution. the main role in the suppression of unrest, the guard was assigned, it was reinforced by other military units of the Petersburg district. 20 infantry battalions and over 20 cavalry squadrons were concentrated at predetermined points.

On the evening of January 8, a group of writers and scientists, with the participation of Maxim Gorky, turned to the ministers with a demand to prevent the execution of workers, but they did not want to listen to her.

On January 9, a peaceful procession to the Winter Palace was scheduled. The procession was prepared by the legal organization "Assembly of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg" headed by priest Georgy Gapon. Gapon spoke at meetings, calling for a peaceful procession to the tsar, who alone could intercede for the workers. Gapon assured that the tsar should go out to the workers and accept an appeal from them.

On the eve of the procession, the Bolsheviks issued a proclamation "To all St. Petersburg workers", in which they explained the futility and danger of the procession conceived by Gapon.

On January 9, about 150,000 workers took to the streets of St. Petersburg. The columns headed by Gapon headed for the Winter Palace.

The workers came with their families, carried portraits of the tsar, icons, crosses, sang prayers. Throughout the city, the procession met armed soldiers, but no one wanted to believe that they could shoot. Emperor Nicholas II was in Tsarskoye Selo that day. When one of the columns approached the Winter Palace, shots suddenly rang out. The units stationed at the Winter Palace fired three volleys at the procession participants (in the Alexander Garden, at the Palace Bridge and at the General Staff building). The cavalry and mounted gendarmes chopped down the workers with swords and finished off the wounded.

According to official figures, 96 people were killed and 330 wounded, according to unofficial data - more than a thousand killed and two thousand wounded.

According to journalists from St. Petersburg newspapers, the number of killed and wounded was about 4.9 thousand people.

The murdered police secretly buried at night at the Preobrazhensky, Mitrofanevsky, Uspensky and Smolensky cemeteries.

The Bolsheviks of Vasilyevsky Island distributed a leaflet in which they called on the workers to seize weapons and start an armed struggle against the autocracy. The workers seized weapons stores and warehouses, disarmed the police. The first barricades were erected on Vasilyevsky Island.